Sitting down with a prospective customer for the first time, starting that adventure, that’s exciting!

Karine Maupiler believes it’s all about taking an entrepreneurial approach and says relationships are at the heart of commercial strategy

After stints with some of Europe’s largest banks – including Barclays, KBC Bank and Deutsche Bank – Karine Maupiler joined Intesa Sanpaolo in 2012 as senior relationship manager in the company’s Paris office. Her role is to explain the benefits of working with Intesa Sanpaolo to current and prospective customers.

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What do you enjoy most about your role with Intesa Sanpaolo?

Sitting down with a prospective customer for the first time, starting that adventure, that’s exciting.

The customer, such as a large corporate, has a single point of contact in the person of the “coverage” banker, who follows him or her, knows them very well and helps them access a range of investment bank services.

To start with, it is a matter of relationship management – bringing the customer not only solutions in corporate banking that correspond to their day-to-day financing needs, but also solutions in investment banking more concerned with strategic operations.

Then, we aim to maximise profitability and return per customer.

And finally, there is risk management, studying all the risks associated with counterparties included in the set-up.

It is a matter of relationship management – bringing the customer not only solutions in corporate banking that correspond to their day-to-day financing needs, but also solutions in investment banking more concerned with strategic operations.

Photo: Karine Maupiler, senior relationship manager

How do you make the case for Intesa Sanpaolo?

By explaining what a foreign bank with an international presence can do for the customer. It is you who must defend internally the implementation of credit limits. The job consists of being professional by widening our own skills.

How to differentiate us?

By acting as a foreign bank in the French market and sharing our strengths in Italy with our customers.

By being present next to French large Banks, Intesa Sanpaolo is often a bank of a second circle but the first one in this second circle.

It’s about building relationships in an atmosphere of trust, confidence and integrity.

What’s the key to good relationship management?

I’m a generalist. I have the knowledge and skills to understand the needs of the customer and then connect them to an appropriate specialist. It’s about building relationships in an atmosphere of trust, confidence and integrity. If they see us as a reliable, trusted partner we will win some of their business.

It’s also important to be able to deliver what we promise. We can’t say “we can do everything” because we have to be credible. What we can say is “this is what we’re specialists in”.

What are the characteristics of Intesa Sanpaolo and its people?

The culture of every bank is different. Intesa Sanpaolo is about traditions and values. At the same time, it has to adapt and develop, because so much of its revenue now comes from Italy. We are looking to build more relationships at an international level.

That’s why I joined the bank four years ago. I was interested in the challenge of developing the international side of the business.

I was interested in the challenge of developing the international side of the business.

What’s been your best experience?

My most inspiring experience is to have managed to finance a complex transaction for a sugar trading company against a very short deadline and to have negotiated with the trade finance specialists of the bank.

The result was not guaranteed, but because it was a team effort generated a spirit of success more valuable than anything an individual might have achieved – important in our current extremely competitive world.

Where would you like to be in your career in five years?

I used to say that the only certainty is uncertainty. It’s impossible to say, but I would still like to be involved in the challenge of connecting with customers. Maybe that will be in France, but maybe abroad.